Switching Lives

MDM: Hey, this is actually earlier than I thought we would update this story! I hope it was worth it, though.

PokemonFreak90: We've spent some time looking at Dawn and Ash, so in this chapter, let's see how Salvia is doing. Roll it!

Chapter 6

Salvia's Discovery

The next day, Salvia got out of the cot that Dawn had used as her bed and stretched her sore limbs and back. Her stomach growled loudly, making her sigh deeply.

Yesterday was really tiresome for her. She had barely eaten anything that day, just an apple and a slice of bread for breakfast before chores were thrown at her left and right. She had to sweep the floors, weed the gardens, wax the tables, polish the silver, do laundry, and that's just to name a few! At the end of the day, which was past midnight actually, Salvia didn't have enough time for a shower, so Piplup just used a gentle Bubble Beam to wash her hair before she laid down for only a few hours of rest.

It was right then when Salvia realized just how hard Dawn must have it, living like this. Breakfast was her only real meal, lunch didn't seem to exist in the manor, and for dinner, it was the scraps from the dining table. Unluckily for her, she was much too tired to even eat leftovers, so she went to sleep that night with an empty stomach.

Salvia rubbed her eyes tiredly before Piplup used a Bubble Beam on her face to wake her up completely.

"Thank you, Piplup." She said to the little Water type.

The Penguin Pokémon chirped proudly. Salvia smiled before she left her quarters to start another day of hard work.

After stumbling slightly into the kitchen, Salvia greeted Candice, who had managed to save her half a loaf of bread and a small wedge of cheese.

"Here you go, Dawn." Candice said, handing her the food. "Best eat it quickly before the master calls for you."

Salvia nodded. "Yes, of course." She said, and took the bread and cheese.

Candice watched her friend eat heartily. She unfortunately didn't eat much yesterday, so it was no wonder that she would be starving. But still, there was something off about 'Dawn' that she couldn't quite put a finger on.

In a matter of minutes, Salvia had finished her breakfast and sighed happily, no longer feeling any stomach pains. She would never take her food back home at the palace for granted again! Still, she couldn't believe that some servants in the kingdom lived like this. Zoey and the servants in the palace were always allowed to have enough food for themselves and were always given breaks to have time to eat.

Piplup finished an apple before he tugged on Salvia's dress. The disguised princess looked down at her companion. The little Water type then pointed to the kitchen sink and Salvia followed the gaze. The sink was filled with piles of dirty dishes, pots, and pans.

"Well, I suppose that is my first chore today." Salvia said.

Soon, the dishes were cleaned and put away in the cupboards. Salvia wiped her wet hands on her dress. Just then, a servant poked his head into the kitchen.

"Dawn!" He called her attention, "Lord Cyrus wants to see you in the library."

Salvia felt her blood run cold for a second. Back when she was a princess, she remembered the few meetings that her mother and Cyrus would have. His stoic and stern demeanor always gave Salvia chills down her spine, though she managed to keep up her royal appearance.

But now was not the time to get nervous. Salvia took a deep breath. "All right. I'm on my way." she answered. Then, she left the kitchen with Piplup waddling behind her.

Luckily for Salvia, she knew where the library was, because one of her chores on the day before was to dust every book in there. But it did give her an excuse to do a little reading when she was done.

The disguised princess entered the library. It wasn't as huge as the library back in the castle, but bookshelves still towered against the walls. The floor was carpeted with a large royal blue rug and there was a carved birch desk in one of the corners of the room.

Sitting down at the desk, looking through some papers, was Lord Cyrus himself. He had a stern face, with spiky cerulean hair, cold gray eyes, and wore a dark gray suit.

Cyrus looked up from his papers and saw Dawn walking up to him slowly. Then she stood in front of his desk and bowed her head.

"You wanted to see me, my lord?" She asked.

"Yes." Cyrus said. Salvia once again felt chills go down her back when she heard his gruff voice. "I've gotten complaints from some of the servants that we are running low on food already. And you went to get some more only a week ago, am I correct?"

Salvia slowly raised up her head to look Cyrus in the face. Feeling a little more nervous than before, she gave him an answer. "Yes."

Although, she didn't remember if Dawn had told her much about her previous chores, such as getting more food. But it was best to just go along with what was being said, just so that she could hopefully avoid getting into trouble.

Cyrus looked at Dawn curiously. "Well, it seems that you will have to take another trip into the village today." He said.

Salvia perked up a little bit. She hadn't been down to the village before. At least she wasn't one of those royals that hadn't left their castles at all.

Cyrus looked up from his paper again to see 'Dawn' light up a little bit. He slightly raised an eyebrow. She almost never showed any signs of happiness. "Why are you smiling, Dawn?" he said coldly, but not angrily.

Salvia realized her little flaw and quickly erased her smile from her face. "Um...no reason, my lord." She said, curtsying again while lowering her head.

Cyrus was still a little bit confused. Dawn usually didn't act so polite and she seemed a little bit more brave than usual.

"Very well, then." He said. "After you do the draperies, Candice will accompany you to town."

Salvia nodded. "Yes, my lord. Am I excused now?"

"Yes, you may go now." Cyrus said, waving his hand towards the library doors.

Salvia curtsied once more before she walked out of the library. But she had a feeling that Cyrus was keeping his eyes on her as she left. Once Salvia closed the doors behind her, she let out a deep breath that she didn't know she was holding in.

Piplup came up to the disguised princess. "Piplup?" He chirped worriedly.

Salvia knelt down to the little Water type's level. "I'm all right, Piplup." She assured the Penguin Pokémon. "It's just that Cyrus has always rubbed me the wrong way." She then stood up. "Let us be off now. We have draperies to do."

Piplup chirped with confidence and the disguised princess took him in her arms and started down towards the laundry room.

However, just as she left to take a right in another hallway, a man with blue hair sticking up in the air in three points, fair skin, and blue eyes, dressed in a nice black casual suit, took a spot in front of the library doors. He then knocked on the door.

"Enter." Cyrus called from inside the room, and the man came in, closing the doors behind him.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" The man asked.

"Yes." Cyrus said, standing up from his desk. "I want you to keep an eye on Dawn. Don't let her out of your sight."

"Why?" The man asked. "That servant girl may deserve slightly more strict punishments, but she hasn't really caused much trouble."

"No." Cyrus answered simply. "But today, there is something off about her. Something familiar. I want you to find out what it is. Stay out of sight and stay close to her."

"Yes, sir." The man conceded, bowing his head.

Cyrus smiled coldly. "Thank you, Saturn."

Candice was pretty much laughing uncontrollably as 'Dawn' fell face-first into the soapy washing pot. The blunette removed her face from the pot and wiped away a little bit of the bubbly suds and water, glaring slightly at the older girl. But then, she began laughing as well. Despite Salvia's clumsiness, they managed to get all of the draperies done and hang them outside to dry.

Salvia wiped some excess water from her bangs. "Well, that wasn't so much of a chore."

Candice looked at her strangely from the corner of her eye, pretending to focus on hanging the drapes to dry. Ever since 'Dawn' came back from her errand to the castle, she had been acting a little unusual. She was a little too eager to begin her chores, and even though she was tired at the end of the day, she would always smile and just fall asleep on her cot. She was never this pleasant about her life.

"Well, now." Salvia said as she turned towards Candice, getting the older girl out of her thoughts, "Shall we be on our way to the village?"

"Yes, I think so." Candice said.

Salvia grinned and took Piplup in her arms, placing him on her shoulder. She then grabbed a nearby basket.

"Then let's go." Salvia said, before she started towards the gates of the manor.

Candice looked at 'Dawn' strangely again, but then rolled her eyes. 'Dawn' always did like going to the village, despite its condition. It was the one place that she could go where she wouldn't have to worry about Cyrus.

A few minutes later, Salvia couldn't believe her eyes. The village was not really terrible, but looking very sad. The people walking around the streets were starving, some had dirt and ash smeared on their faces, and there were mud puddles everywhere. Some people didn't even have a home, so they were sitting on the road, begging for money or scraps of food.

Tears began to spring into her eyes. "Piplup, how could this have happened?" She whispered to the little Water type perched on her shoulder. Living in the castle her whole life, she wasn't expecting the village to be like this.

The Penguin Pokémon just nuzzled the disguised princess with his beak, reassuring her. He knew that she couldn't have known about this because she had more personal worries to handle while living in the castle.

A hand then came onto Salvia's other shoulder. She looked up and saw Candice looking down at her.

"Are you okay, Dawn?" She asked. She was getting more confused. Dawn had been down to the village many times before, but now she was acting like she was seeing it for the first time.

The disguised princess thought quickly of an appropriate answer. "It's just...every time that I see the village, it still makes me feel very sad to see everyone suffering like this."

Candice nodded sadly and said, "Yes, it is. Ever since Queen Johanna fell ill, the whole kingdom has started to fall apart, since she's not strong enough to rule anymore. A lot of the rich still live their normal lives, Master Cyrus included, while everyone else in the kingdom began to lose everything."

Salvia felt a strike of realization hit her. Her mother would usually make sure that the people were thriving and living happily. But now that she was bedridden and not getting any better, it was harder for her to look after the kingdom and her subjects. The rich remained at play, living their pish-posh lives, while everyone else had to struggle just to survive.

Seeing everyone like this, Salvia made herself a promise: When she took the throne, she would be the kind, wise, and benevolent ruler that her mother raised her to be, just like she was, and restore the kingdom to its former glory and beauty. Johanna wouldn't want the kingdom to look like this and Salvia knew that for a fact!

Salvia then realized that had she escaped her royal life and snuck out of the castle to experience what freedom is, and to be normal, and not have people wait on her every single day of her life. But now, seeing the suffering state that the people were living in, she now realized how important her birthright really was. It was up to her to prevent this from happening and she didn't wish this sad way of life on any of her subjects.

"Come on." She said, a determined look gleaming in her eyes. "Let us be on our way."

Candice nodded and the two girls walked into the village.

PokemonFreak90: It seems like Cyrus is getting suspicious of Salvia, due to her different attitude from Dawn's!

Also, Salvia has seen, for the first time, the sad state that her kingdom is in, due to her mother's illness making it difficult for her to rule. This has given the princess a renewed sense of purpose as she sees just how important her role as the future queen is, and she vows to restore Sinnoh to its former glory and beauty once she's the new queen.

Salvia's journey through the village will continue in the next chapter as she tries to help some people, and she makes a new Pokemon friend!

MDM: That's right! I hope that y'all will stick around to find out! Please leave a review about what you think.

Got to fly! ;)